Salt Water Moon
by raykoRavenclaw
Summary: Tonks is staying at her parent's house the night after Dumbledore's death, taking a break from it all. An unexpected visitor comes to convince her of the very thing she's been wanting and fighting for, for the past year. Oneshot, please r&r!


Salt-Water Moon

A/N: just a little one-shot drabble, but it's loosely based on the actual play "Salt-Water Moon" by David French (just a little bit of Canadian history there). Anyway, the point is, I was looking through my English textbook today, even though we weren't assigned to read any stories, (yes I'm a geek), so I read this story, and loved it so much and thought that if converted, it's make a great RLNT story. You'll see, hopefully ;)

No Beta so forgive the various mistakes.

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Salt-Water Moon 

On the front porch of a quaint country house that had been built in the ninetieth century, and later on restored by magical means in the twentieth century, sat a young girl in her early twenties. Her hair was lank, and brown, and it seemed to tangle slightly in the front of her wearisome eyes, as they glared up at the night sky, lit up by the half-moon and faraway stars. It was the moon, and only the moon, however, that entranced her. A telescope lay on her lap, a sign of her mother's family, and their partiality to astronomy. Yes the telescope lay firmly on her lap, and not to her face, another sign, that indeed the young witch was not thinking of stargazing tonight. The moon, yes the moon, with it's mystical glow, it's many secrets, so beautiful, but at the same time for her, so horrific.

The silent moment of her thoughts were broken by the distinct but faint voice of a man not too far off the road in front of the house, singing an unknown tune.

"_Oh, the moon shines bright on Willy Wolfman,_

_His worn metal boots rusty as an ol' tin can,_

_And his baggy trousers they need a mending woman,_

_Before they send him off to his broken-down plan…"_

Nymphadora Tonks, for that was the girl's name, whirled around in her spot on the porch towards the road. She knew not if it was her imagination, or if indeed she had heard him.

Her eyes remained riveted to the road in front, searching through the darkness for a sign of life, her ears straining to hear more. But the song had ended, and there was no more to hear, nothing to see. She shrugged off the thought, assuming that her imagination was indeed playing tricks on her. Her eyes drifted away from the road, and back up to the midnight sky, to the shimmering moon, that she despised and admired so much.

At the end of road, a man appeared through the shadows. He was quite tall and his clothes, well worn out. His young face, likewise, seemed weary and lined, giving him the appearance of living more years than he actually had. His light-brown hair, heavily flicked with grey hairs didn't help matters much either. In his right hand, he carried a battered old suitcase, held together by a piece of rope, with the initials "_R. J. Lupin_" stitched across. He stopped walking down the street when he reached the front gate to the country house.

At first site of Nymphadora Tonks, he instinctively took a deep inward breath, dropping his suitcase to the ground and locking his eyes on her. He studied her intently a few minutes before clearing his throat in a professorly way, making his presence known.

Nymphadora Tonks gaze dropped from the heavens and down to the world before her. Startled by the site, she sat motionless, starring at a man she knew must be a mirage.

"Hello Nymphadora." His face held kind features, but he was not smiling. "Aren't you even going to acknowledge my presence?" He added at her silence.

"Do not call me Nymphadora." She said, resolutely, standing up and turning her back to him. "I suppose that was you I heard."

"What? Just now, singing?"

'I heard your voice, but I thought, no, it couldn't be him…" Without saying another word, Tonks crossed the porch and retired into the house.

"She sure is something." Remus Lupin said to himself, before walking to her front door, and tapping it. "Tonks, come out and look at this moon. There's never been a night like this, and there'll never be another."

The door didn't open, and no sound was heard from within. Remus stepped away and walked out into the front yard, facing the house and saying in a louder voice. "Come out Tonks, don't be like this. You're probably peeking through one of your windows right now, aren't you, wondering, _what is that fool up to_? What gives him the nerve to stand in the yard of Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, waking them along with half the countryside up?"

Still no movement came to meet him, and so, in a booming voice that was sure to wake up anyone asleep nearby, he continued. "I'm not budging from here Nymph, I'll make myself at home on this spot, and rot away until you come out. Perhaps some of the neighbours will come out and find the wolf in the yard and the lamb cowering behind curtains of the house." He crossed the front and went back up to the porch, trying to peer through the windows, adding in his deafening tones. "Shall I start singing again?"

"That's enough!" Tonks came bursting out of the house, shaking her hands at him wildly. "Would you stop it! What the hell is wrong with you? Go home Remus, I don't know what's going on but your not acting yourself and I can't be dealing with this now."

"Suit yourself Nymph, but I had thought you might like to see the present I brought back from my mission in the Underground." His voice was calm, and completely different from the tones he was using moments before.

"What? But how could—I don't want it, whatever it is. Just go."

"It wasn't easy to get." He explained, going over to his suitcase that lay gently on the ground and opening it. From it, he produced a shiny grey rock, with pink crystal-like stones imbedded into it all over. "I found it in one of the caves the pack was staying in. It was half sticking out of the rocky wall, so I dug it out with a bit of effort. Quite rare."

Tonks stood transfixed by the rock, as he came back up next to her at the porch, holding it out to her. "I…I can't accept your gift Remus, you know it's not right."

"When I saw it, I thought instantly of you. I don't see how it would be improper—"

"Oh come off it!" Tonks exclaimed emotionally. "How can you push and push me away, and then come bearing gifts, and expect me not to, not to be broken and confused. I can't take it Remus, yesterday night was it for me. You made yourself all too clear in the hospital wing—"

But Remus cut her off. "What are you doing over here, as a matter of interest?"

"I…I wanted to get away from the city, from all the chaos, and my flats over there, so…so I came over to my parent's home to get a break." She sighed, but added by his look, "don't worry, the ministry knows I'm here, if there's an emergency the aurors can still contact me if I'm needed."

"But you're going to be attending Dumbledore's funeral tomorrow?"

"Naturally."

"I see. Well, will you please take this, I would hate for anyone else to posses it, even myself." He gestured for her to take the rock from his hand.

"No Remus, please don't do this to me." Her voice was pained, her face, strained. "I haven't _bothered_ you since yesterday night, and I want you to know, that I won't ever _bother_ you again. I can see you are as stubborn as me. However, I can't promise that I'll ever be able to get over you…"

"Though there will be others, I bet. You have never _bothered_ me, Nymph, but I see now, you _have_ let me go, have you? Have you found someone else so soon, is that it?"

She knew the answer was no, but could she needed a little dignity back, and unwisely decided maybe telling him more than he needed to know would improve his image of her.

"Actually, Charlie Weasley's been writing me from Romania lately. He wants to have another go at the little Hogwarts romance we had in sixth year." This was true, however, she had written him back with words expressing only friendship.

"I see. So, do you love him?"

"What's it to you?"

"Look me in the eye, tell me you love him, and I'll walk out of here and leave you in the peace you want."

She looked up into his eyes and said. "All right, you promise me and I'll say it."

"I promise."

She paused, looking up into his face. His grey eyes were so soothing, so warm and kind, it made her heart melt instantly.

"You can't say it, can you?" His voice was serious, not teasing. When she didn't answer, he repeated. "Can you?"

"I…I do love Charlie." Her voice was soft, yet defiant, as she looked into his eyes and said the words.

"Love him as a brother, or as a lover?"

Shit. "I…it doesn't matter, I said I loved him regardless."

"But we both know what type of love I was referring to."

"Why are you even here? Months and months of avoiding me, of me trying to talk to you, and now that I've resigned, you've come to keep it up?"

"It's not that…" He hesitated. "I've spoken to a lot of people about it, you'd be surprised at how many people are interested in us. I was at the Weasely's earlier actually, Molly and Arthur wanted to stay at Hogwarts with Bill, but Madam Pomfrey finally sent them out around ten, so I went to visit them—and they informed me you had left the city for a break, and I told them I had to leave them then, I had to come and see you."

"You…did?"

"Yes, and they were both quite surprised. They hadn't even brought you up, Molly was too distressed about Bill to lecture me, I was the one who inquired after you."

"Is that so? Well, you inquired, you came, you visited, and now you can leave Lupin."

"I asked them for a bit of advice before I left, you know." He continued, as if he had not heard her. "I questioned them, what do you do when you've ruined your chance with a woman you truly care about, when she may no longer even love you."

"I've lost my faith in you Remus. You broke my heart once, I can't let you do it again."

"I understand that, but will I ever deserve another chance?"

Tonks looked away from him, and back up to the sky, as if thinking with great difficulty. "We were happy together, back when my cousin was alive. Sure, you had always thought you weren't good enough, but we still worked past it, we enjoyed each other's company. And then, your best mate died, and you grew distant."

"I was…afraid, Nymph, afraid because I had become so close with him again, and then he was taken away. I couldn't let the same thing happen with you. I couldn't whole-heartedly love you, only to have you snatched away by this war too."

"But it's a chance we all take, isn't it?"

"My situation didn't help though, did it? If the danger of the war wasn't enough, I also happened to turn into a dangerous creature once a month—"

"We're not having _that_ conversation again Remus." Tonks cut him off. "Look, it's quite late, I think you need to get back to your place. You've made the decision to be a coward, and I don't care much for the issue anymore, to be honest."

"I don't believe you." Remus challenged with his voice.

Tonks stepped off the porch and away from him. "No, I suppose you believe what you want to."

"I believe in a girl who shivers when I come close to her, who trembles when she feels my breath on her neck."

"And who would this be?" She defied, being difficult on purpose.

"You're the only girl I see standing under the moonlight tonight."

"If I shivered it is because I am cold, and I did not tremble at your breath."

"Sure you did, when I was standing behind you on the porch just now. And as to being cold, it is the beginning of summer Nymph, and we both know it is quite nice out tonight."

"Ha ha. Next you'll be saying you could hear my heart pounding or something."

"Maybe I can." He half-grinned and her heart skipped a beat, as he walked off the porch and towards her on the grass.

"You know, pink suits you the best." He said gently, reaching her, and looking attentively at her mouse-coloured hair.

"Don't worry, I'll be able to change it again…eventually." She sighed, willing herself not to shiver at his closeness.

"You haven't been looking up to par lately, which is too bad. You are quite a stunning woman."

"What, did you go around sweet talking the female wolves Underground?"

"There wasn't any girls for me down there."

"I'm so sure. No woman attracted to you." She fought the immature urge to roll her eyes.

"Well, perhaps there was one or two female werewolves…"

"Is that really all Lupin?"

"Maybe three or four, at the most."

"Hmmm…well, I'm sure they were all so sad to see you go, when you finally came back up into the wizarding world. Did you give all four a good farewell?"

"Actually, maybe four is an exaggeration. There really was only just one."

"Oh! One he says, and that makes it so much better—" She stopped to recollect herself, and then continued, refusing to meet his eye. "I suppose you two were quite attracted to each other then."

"She actually did remind me a little of you. Only, she was less vibrant, more gentle."

"And what exactly did you do with her?"

"Nymph." He reached out, cupping her face and turning it so that it faced his squarely. "I did not love this woman. I was not attracted to her. My heart belongs somewhere else."

"Oh." Tonks said blankly, peering up at his eyes, completely gripped. "Oh."

He smiled down at her, taking a step closer. Her mind was fighting to regain consciousness however. She blinked a couple of times, and was fully thinking once again. He was close, far to close; she wouldn't get sucked into something only to be rejected again. She needed to know for sure. Trying to break the silence, she said the first thing that came into her head. "You never told me the advice Molly and Arthur gave you."

Remus Lupin nodded. "Molly was the one to give it. She told me that 'if she's still _mooning_ over you, she'll let you know somehow.' Those were her words."

"Remus…why exactly are we standing here in my parent's yard tonight?"

He stopped grinning and looked almost upset at her words. "If you truly don't know, then I suppose I am wasting my time."

"Maybe you are." She shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

"Well, if that is the case, then I suppose I should be going, the sooner, the better." He stepped away from her, rock still in his one hand, and walked over to his suitcase to pick it up with his other.

"Goodbye I guess then Nymphadora, it was a pleasure to see you as always." His voice was cold and formal. " I suppose it is time to take my leave now, before I make a further fool of myself."

He set off away from her and to the gate.

"I suppose you expect me to stop you?" She called out to him.

Turning one last time to face her, he said, "that I don't."

Exiting the gate, he was out on the street and disappearing into the shadows in minutes.

Nymphadora turned away and looked back up at the moon, and started slowly singing to herself.

"_Oh, the moon shines bright on Willy Wolfman,_

_His worn metal boots rusty as an ol' tin can,_

_And his baggy trousers they need a mending woman,_

_Before they send him off to his broken-down plan…"_

By the last couple of words, her voice had broken out into a sob, and she tried to stifle out her cry, covering her mouth, but it couldn't change how she felt. No one was around to hear it.

"Remus…." She barely whispered, "Remus!" She called out louder, and louder, "Remus, Remus!" and then, with a cry to tear the night apart, she sobbed "REMUS!"

From out of the shadows, Remus Lupin reappeared in the distant road, striding back over to the gate and through the yard. With a face more serious than even his features was used to, he came close to her, looked down into her dreadful countenance and took in a deep breath.

"I was worried there for a minute, that you wouldn't be calling me back after all." His face broke out into a huge grin at the words.

"You!" Tonks huffed, shaking her fist at him in true exasperation. "You're so sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"No, I'm the exact opposite, but, on a night like this, with the moon looking the way it does." He titled his face up towards it, feeling his usual mixed emotions towards the illuminated orb. "Such a wonderful site, so mysterious, it makes me want to howl."

He placed the suitcase and rock on the ground, and then raised his hands to his mouth, but Tonks grabbed them and pulled them off his face. "Don't you dare, you've probably already woken up half the neighbourhood from earlier."

"Well, it's not like your parents are home." He shrugged, but continued at her confused expression. "I checked with Molly, she said they were out on vacation and you were spending your time here alone."

"Yes, I am." She nodded.

"Well, you could probably guess that's why I risked yelling at the top of my lungs earlier, so you'd come out of the house." He smiled. "It was, rather, something I've always wanted to try. Sirius and James, they used to yell up at the girls from the common room, to come out of their dormitories, whenever a girl got mad and rushed off."

"Should have known it was a marauder thing." She chuckled.

"So, are we okay to start over again?" He raised his eyebrow humorously, but from the look of his telltale eyes she could tell he was quite serious about it deep down.

"I'm not sure." She shrugged. "Was there really a she-wolf out there who was similar to me, and had a crush on you?"

He laughed nervously. "Maybe not."

"I see, well, in the future Remus, if you ever so much as mention her, even in your sleep, you'll come to regret this night. The moon's our witness, so do you understand me?"

Remus face broke out into a smile so big it was a rare thing to see on such a man, and quite attractive. It got bigger and bigger, as he took hold of her, closed the distance between them, and kissed his sweetheart in agreement.

theEnd.

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A/N: ever since I got my Ravenclaw scarf yesterday, I've been on an all-time high, so I thought I'd try writing a little story under the conditions. Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always fun. 

i know i posted this yesterday, but i had to delete it and re-due it becuase of all the spelling/grammer mistakes...what sucks is that there's probably still more in there, but what can i do, i give up trying to edit!


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